BeeCaps - First try at keycap making (interest check)

[zazie_rx]

Hey guys,

So i decided to try my hand at making Cherry MX custom keycaps, I have all my equipment set up and waiting, just waiting on my resin and silicone to arrive and just wanting to see if there is any interest in a sale when I get into making these.

Let me tell you a little about me, I got into mechanical keyboards about 6 months ago and one thing led to another and i found myself here. The artisan keycap scene fascinated me! but of all the keycap designs I've seen, I really just prefer keys with unique colors and themes rather then the modeled ones (my favorite keycap I've seen so far would be the clickclack octoberfest).

But MK's weren't my only hobby, before this I would make my own mead (wine made from honey), really good stuff too! I would use different varietals of honey for each batch, vastly changing the taste. Varietals of honey are the flowers in which the bees primarily collect their pollen from, they can range from almost completely clear to a black/brown molasses color. A popular varietal you may see in your local grocery would be 'Orange blossom', this is because citrus fruit farmers need to hire beekeepers to place colonies on their land in order to make sure their trees are pollinated (fyi, 'wildflower' honey, which is the most popular is an industry term for mixed honey with no specific source). This of course prompted me to learn all bees and beekeeping, but alas I don't have the land needed to own a colony .

Bees are so important to our economy and our food supply, and really cool! So i wanted to celebrate them by making some honey themed keys in the different honey varietals that are out there.



I have a pretty good size set of pigments, so hopefully I can duplicate many of those colors, and I have the equipment to hopefully make them bubble-free with relatively high yield, but  limited amounts of resin. If everything works out, it would still be a relatively small sale. I've also designed a custom kepcap in 3D modeler I would like to get CNC machined, but for now I think i've spent enough money, so the first run would be just blank thick cherry mx keycaps. Primarily they will be single color keycaps, and once I get more experience working with it, ill play around with doubleshotting.

The remaining stuff I need will be here next week, I'll keep this thread updated if there's interest.

Thanks,
Zazi

[animal]

I will be waiting to see your progress. I am also about to start making caps. I've been reading alot lately about molding and casting, watching vids on Youtube and the rest until I can make up my mind which route to follow regarding materials and equipment. As far as I understood a vacuum chamber and compression is a must. It can get quite expensive as I have read.
 I wish you the best luck on your new project!

[zazie_rx]

I will be waiting to see your progress. I am also about to start making caps. I've been reading alot lately about molding and casting, watching vids on Youtube and the rest until I can make up my mind which route to follow regarding materials and equipment. As far as I understood a vacuum chamber and compression is a must. It can get quite expensive as I have read.
 I wish you the best luck on your new project!

I first got my pressure pot, I was little worried about all the bad things i heard about the Habor frieght pots, so i decided to spend a bit more on a what seems to be a safer pot ( http://www.finishsystems.com/resincastingpressurepots.html ), it was between this one or a used Binks AMSE certified one on ebay. However, I read that if you do not degas your silicone and use it in a pressure tank, the pressure+bubbles in the silicone could deform your mold. As expensive as silicone and resin is, I decided to pick up a cheap pump+vacuum from ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/321778500697?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT), its was brand new, quiet, and does the job. I rather deal with an initial expense then waste materials down the road. Also this way I can degas my resin before pouring it as well, further reducing bubbles.

[nmur]

I'm a big fan of transparent caps, so I'm very much looking forward to how you progress.

Good luck 

[romevi]

Definitely interested.

[zazie_rx]

Got my first failure!

I ended up:

a) Making my key too thick, doesn't fit on a switch correctly
b) Not putting enough resin in on this particular mold.

Sadly making new molds take about 16 hours, and there wouldnt be a point of making another key if its not going to fit.

Quite pleased with the plastic / color quality though, its completely bubble free! except for the massive hole on the side , that was just due to not putting enough resin in.

[ShardZer0]

Transparent caps are awesome, definetly interested.

[retrochick]

That's awesome! The quality came out really well. Any plans to make topre transparent caps? 

[romevi]

Got my first failure!

I ended up:

a) Making my key too thick, doesn't fit on a switch correctly
b) Not putting enough resin in on this particular mold.

Sadly making new molds take about 16 hours, and there wouldnt be a point of making another key if its not going to fit.

Quite pleased with the plastic / color quality though, its completely bubble free! except for the massive hole on the side , that was just due to not putting enough resin in.

Damn. That looks *sweet*. Definitely in now.

[sethk_]

Those look OEM, if you want, I can send you some cherry profile caps

[zazie_rx]

Those look OEM, if you want, I can send you some cherry profile caps

Indeed they are, I have some blank DCS cherry caps from signature plastics, which are cherry profile R4s I believe. Thanks though! The next mold I do will probably be based on those because it seems even my doubleshot pbt keys I'm making the mold from is still bringing through the print on the mold, and I dont have any blanks of those particular keys.

As for topre keys, I don't own a topre board so I don't have any keys to make the mold from, ha-ha.

I'm starting to think I should have ordered more silicone.

[sethk_]

Those look OEM, if you want, I can send you some cherry profile caps

Indeed they are, I have some blank DCS cherry caps from signature plastics, which are cherry profile R4s I believe. Thanks though! The next mold I do will probably be based on those because it seems even my doubleshot pbt keys I'm making the mold from is still bringing through the print on the mold, and I dont have any blanks of those particular keys.

As for topre keys, I don't own a topre board so I don't have any keys to make the mold from, ha-ha.

I'm starting to think I should have ordered more silicone.

Well, the cherry caps also have sharper edges

[zazie_rx]

Finally got some time today to give this another go, came out really well! Bubble free and everything, but the stem is a little loose and won't quite fit on properly, going to see if can modify the mold for my next attempt and make the stem just SLIGHTLY tighter.

In this I used a little bit of gold pearlescent pigment to give it a bit of shine.

Once I get this down, I'll start making molds that will support 5 or so caps at a time.

[ccarlitos2]

These look great!!! Keep it up

[zazie_rx]

I got a little crazy earlier :s Purple + gold

[mdszy]

Oh wow, those look really cool!

[ShardZer0]

I got a little crazy earlier :s Purple + gold

Damn thats a lot of gold! I'd like to see the cap you made with that.

[ccarlitos2]

I got a little crazy earlier :s Purple + gold

Oh my.. how did the cap turn out??

[zazie_rx]

I got a little crazy earlier :s Purple + gold

Oh my.. how did the cap turn out??

The cap i made with that resin ended up being too big again =/. The casts for whatever reason end up being slightly bigger inside the stem and not fit properly, I'm casting with some new molds tonight, the resin this time ended up being a little less purple and little more gold. At this point though, I just want to get a mold that yields a key that will fit properly. Have any cap makers ran across this problem? and how did you fix it?

[ccarlitos2]

I got a little crazy earlier :s Purple + gold

Oh my.. how did the cap turn out??

The cap i made with that resin ended up being too big again =/. The casts for whatever reason end up being slightly bigger inside the stem and not fit properly, I'm casting with some new molds tonight, the resin this time ended up being a little less purple and little more gold. At this point though, I just want to get a mold that yields a key that will fit properly. Have any cap makers ran across this problem? and how did you fix it?

I have never attempted to make caps so I wish I could help. I would maybe pm some of the cap makers here and see what they say. Good Luck! Purple is one my favorite colors so I'm excited to see what you have coming

[zazie_rx]

I got a little crazy earlier :s Purple + gold

Oh my.. how did the cap turn out??

The cap i made with that resin ended up being too big again =/. The casts for whatever reason end up being slightly bigger inside the stem and not fit properly, I'm casting with some new molds tonight, the resin this time ended up being a little less purple and little more gold. At this point though, I just want to get a mold that yields a key that will fit properly. Have any cap makers ran across this problem? and how did you fix it?

I have never attempted to make caps so I wish I could help. I would maybe pm some of the cap makers here and see what they say. Good Luck! Purple is one my favorite colors so I'm excited to see what you have coming

Thanks! I hope to have caps worthy of posting here shortly, I've certainly made enough duds. I'm thinking of spraying an clear Acrylic coating over a few caps (both sides) in the hopes of giving it a smoother finish and providing a little extra thickness on the stem. I'm going to be messaging some of the cap makers around here and see if they've run across this issue (because it seems to happen on all the molds ive made) and see how they've resolved it. Platinum catalyst silicone is pretty expensive and I don't really want to waste anymore until I've got a solution.

[UKKeycaps]

These look good, I'll be keeping my eye on your progress

[sethk_]

Really like these We have a couple bee hives at home, and at some land. We just started this year, so no actual honey yet, but hopefully high yields

[cseng]

looks promising. good luck

[zazie_rx]

I'm an idiot.

I discovered the issue, even though the 'demold time' was something around 8 hours for the resin i'm using, because the parts are so small, the stems were getting stretched a little bit when I was taking them out of their molds, causing them to not fit. After letting a set of 4 caps cure for a whole day in the mold, i discovered they all now fit! I was assuming these were giong to be more junk, so i let me roommate pick out the color! Indigo, it ended up being a little too clumpy and I couldnt get it broken up 100%, so theres black specs it in lol. But other then that, and me not being careful and causing a little dmg on a couple of them when removing the spue, these are perfect! and they fit perfect!

Thank you to Binge and Katzkinder for taking my questions and helping me troubleshoot my issues.

[ccarlitos2]

I'm an idiot.

I discovered the issue, even though the 'demold time' was something around 8 hours for the resin i'm using, because the parts are so small, the stems were getting stretched a little bit when I was taking them out of their molds, causing them to not fit. After letting a set of 4 caps cure for a whole day in the mold, i discovered they all now fit! I was assuming these were giong to be more junk, so i let me roommate pick out the color! Indigo, it ended up being a little too clumpy and I couldnt get it broken up 100%, so theres black specs it in lol. But other then that, and me not being careful and causing a little dmg on a couple of them when removing the spue, these are perfect! and they fit perfect!

Thank you to Binge and Katzkinder for taking my questions and helping me troubleshoot my issues.

I quite like the black specs haha those look great can't wait to see  what else you have coming

[romevi]

Dude, these are pretty awesome. Can't wait to see the final products.

[Binge]

I'm an idiot.

I discovered the issue, even though the 'demold time' was something around 8 hours for the resin i'm using, because the parts are so small, the stems were getting stretched a little bit when I was taking them out of their molds, causing them to not fit. After letting a set of 4 caps cure for a whole day in the mold, i discovered they all now fit! I was assuming these were giong to be more junk, so i let me roommate pick out the color! Indigo, it ended up being a little too clumpy and I couldnt get it broken up 100%, so theres black specs it in lol. But other then that, and me not being careful and causing a little dmg on a couple of them when removing the spue, these are perfect! and they fit perfect!

Thank you to Binge and Katzkinder for taking my questions and helping me troubleshoot my issues.

You're welcome and don't worry.  You will find that all manner of variables affect the timed element of casting.  If I mix less than a total of 2oz of one of my resins in a batch (this is a lot for just a few keys) then the pot life increases but so does the demold time.

My demold times are rated at around 90 minutes-4 hours.  I enjoy letting them sit for a full 8 hours to be sure everything stays pressurized for as long as it is in gel phase into the curing time.

[zazie_rx]

Now back to what I originally set out to make

[ccarlitos2]

Now back to what I originally set out to make

These look fantastic!!!! Definitely the right color. Are they MX or Topre?

[CPTBadAss]

The left one in the first is definitely MX. You can see the MX if you zoom in

[ccarlitos2]

The left one in the first is definitely MX. You can see the MX if you zoom in

Ah I see it now. Thank you!

[nmur]

Now back to what I originally set out to make

That... actually looks like it was made from honey. That really looks nice.

[sth]

zazie! these look great. let me know if you want a topre cap to borrow to make a mold of because i am SUPER interested in these!!

[zazie_rx]

Indeed they are Cherry MX keys, going to stick to these until maybe after my first sale . Theres a lot of fine tuning on my master keys that need to still be done, these were originally doubleshot keys, you can still see the embossing on most of them if you look closely. Its really pretty amazing the level of detail the silicone can pick up, i'm told it will even pick up fingerprints if you're not careful. I've been using some really fine sandpaper on the top of the keys to even them out, and I think im going to spray some gloss back on the top facing part of the key so they come out clear (like the last two batches i've posted here have been) and leave the sides very finely sanded but still matte.

I'm glad you guys like them , Luckily the resin I use comes out pretty clear (without the fumes and the higher price of 'water clear' resins) so I can take my time adding pigment to either part of the mixture and be pretty confident its going to come out the color I went for.

[ccarlitos2]

Indeed they are Cherry MX keys, going to stick to these until maybe after my first sale . Theres a lot of fine tuning on my master keys that need to still be done, these were originally doubleshot keys, you can still see the embossing on most of them if you look closely. Its really pretty amazing the level of detail the silicone can pick up, i'm told it will even pick up fingerprints if you're not careful. I've been using some really fine sandpaper on the top of the keys to even them out, and I think im going to spray some gloss back on the top facing part of the key so they come out clear (like the last two batches i've posted here have been) and leave the sides very finely sanded but still matte.

I'm glad you guys like them , Luckily the resin I use comes out pretty clear (without the fumes and the higher price of 'water clear' resins) so I can take my time adding pigment to either part of the mixture and be pretty confident its going to come out the color I went for.

Sounds good are you planning on doing any designs or just blanks? Edit: Sorry not blanks, but more then the doubleshot? either way I'm in. I love these colors.

[yehoshuaf]

Nice work.

I'd definitely try a clear coat for a smoother finish. Probably a spray on.

[zazie_rx]

Sounds good are you planning on doing any designs or just blanks? Edit: Sorry not blanks, but more then the doubleshot? either way I'm in. I love these colors.

Double-shots (or even triple shots) are definitely in the future, its more of a question of material expended vs batch size vs working time. I inject the resin using plastic needleless syringes, and i've already gone through my box of 10 or so . Now that I've got my fitting issue solved, I can step up the production a bit without the fear of wasting more silicone and other material.

[ccarlitos2]

Sounds good are you planning on doing any designs or just blanks? Edit: Sorry not blanks, but more then the doubleshot? either way I'm in. I love these colors.

Double-shots (or even triple shots) are definitely in the future, its more of a question of material expended vs batch size vs working time. I inject the resin using plastic needleless syringes, and i've already gone through my box of 10 or so . Now that I've got my fitting issue solved, I can step up the production a bit without the fear of wasting more silicone and other material.

Sounds awesome. I hope you use that purple color from earlier xD the honey and purple would look boss together.

[TastaturenAuslese]

This looks amazing! Loving the homage to bees, and the yellow honey caps actually look like honey

Is there any chance you'll be making these in topre stems? :3

[Alpsie]

oh woaw these are beautiful.
Iīm defiently interrested would love 4-8 keys

[zazie_rx]

Some updates:

• Ran out of silicone! From now on I should be wasting alot less since I've figured out what I was doing wrong. Just ordered some more QM 262.
• Ordered a full set of some really nice thick blank keycap i'm going to be using as masters for my next molds. With these I'll be able to make bigger batches of maybe a dozen or so.

I'll keep you guys posted with no makes and maybe a future sale when i get the materials together

[romevi]

Some updates:

• Ran out of silicone! From now on I should be wasting alot less since I've figured out what I was doing wrong. Just ordered some more QM 262.
• Ordered a full set of some really nice thick blank keycap i'm going to be using as masters for my next molds. With these I'll be able to make bigger batches of maybe a dozen or so.

I'll keep you guys posted with no makes and maybe a future sale when i get the materials together

Looking forward to more updates! (And the inevitable order date!)

[ccarlitos2]

Some updates:

• Ran out of silicone! From now on I should be wasting alot less since I've figured out what I was doing wrong. Just ordered some more QM 262.
• Ordered a full set of some really nice thick blank keycap i'm going to be using as masters for my next molds. With these I'll be able to make bigger batches of maybe a dozen or so.

I'll keep you guys posted with no makes and maybe a future sale when i get the materials together

Ohhh. Can't wait to see what comes of it all!

[Alpsie]

Omg that is great news
Canīt wait to see more

[ironpup]

Can't wait to see these develop, brb while I grab a pb and honey sandwich 

[zazie_rx]

Hey guys I know it's been awhile! I decided to deviate a little bit from the honey theme to try out a couple new idea.

I've made grape soda and orange soda caps.. Soon to come: root beer, beer and big red themed caps.

[TastaturenAuslese]

Down for some beer caps but careful, some may say you're copying CC's oktoberfest caps.

[zazie_rx]

Down for some beer caps but careful, some may say you're copying CC's oktoberfest caps.

then ill make an ale

[TastaturenAuslese]

Down for some beer caps but careful, some may say you're copying CC's oktoberfest caps.

then ill make an ale

Hefeweizen :3